A nearly endless scroll of copycat applications has swamped the offerings for iPhone users.
Though it made headlines when the Apple Store recently listed ChatGPT, iPhone users now struggle to find the original product as knockoff AI chatbot apps have flooded the marketplace.
The names of the dupes are strikingly similar to that of the original, making it hard to know what to download.
iPhone users scrolling through their search results as they look for OpenAI’s artificial intelligence application are finding themselves with dozens upon dozens of AI chatbot apps that all have similar names. From GPT-4 Open Chat to Chat AI other similarly named applications, users are struggling to find what they want.
The Apple Store appears to be working on the list of lookalike products with similar names, having thinned things out since the worst of it last week. That said, it remains easy to be confused by the existing listings as developers scramble to get in early as the artificial intelligence wave takes over.
Of course, it’s not just the names that look similar. Similar designs and logos are also being displayed in an effort to trick iPhone users into purchasing subscriptions to copycat applications instead of the OpenAI product. Many of these subscriptions – when carefully totaled based on dubious pricing descriptions – cost notably more than OpenAI for its ChatGPT Plus.
The AI chatbot apps do sometimes offer their own artificial intelligence service.
While many of the apps try to trick consumers looking for ChatGPT into purchasing their dupe service instead, this doesn’t mean that they aren’t offering anything. Some are indeed offering a service somewhat resembling ChatGPT, having rented access on the GPT-3 or GPT-4 language models from OpenAI. This allows them to build their own personalities and software. That said, for consumers seeking the original product, many will be disappointed when they discover they have subscribed to the wrong service, particularly if they are paying more for it.
Some developers are also using the ChatGPT name to try to draw consumers seeking a similar product when they reside in a country where the original ChatGPT is banned.
That said, for iPhone customers who don’t live in such geographic restrictions, it is unlikely that they would want to pay more for off-label AI chatbot apps that don’t provide them with any additional benefits.
